Your Swedish Roots Online

Tag Archives: domestic

Up until 1860 a passport was required in Sweden for both domestic and international travel. For a person traveling to another place in Sweden where he or she was not known, a passport was required and it needed to be shown if someone asked to see it. These passports were recorded in passport journals (passjournaler).

We have photographed some of these passport journals for Blekinge, Gotland, Gävleborg and Västernorrland counties. You can find these passport journals by going to ArkivDigital’s online search window, clicking on advanced options, and selecting the archive type, country cabinet (landskansli). We have also published name indexes for the passport journals for Gävleborg and Västernorrland counties.

For Gävleborg, you will find the passport journals in the volumes named passport journals and you will find name indexes for these journals in the volumes named registers. If you select Gävleborg läns landskansli, you will find the name indexed registers for the years 1767 – 1858 in the PassReg. Volumes 1 to 10.

Above is an example from one of the Gävleborg’s name indexed registers. In the above image, we can see that Carl Erik Frunk received a passport granting him and wife Brita Kristina Hillgren permission to travel from their home in Gävle to a neighboring city, Söderhamn. You can see the original record in the volume f0r 1850 on page 189 or at the following reference: Gävleborgs läns landskansli BXIIIa:10a (1842-1858) Image 1000 / page 189 (AID: v637649.b1000.s189, NAD: SE/HLA/1030001) Link

In Västernorrland you will find passport journals and here the volumes are named passliggare instead of passport journals and the name indexes are in the register volumes.

In addition we have photographed passport journals for Blekinge and Gotland counties but these are not name indexed. For Gotland, we have photographed passport applications (passansökningar) as well as incoming passport journals (inkomma pass).

The image below shows a passport that was received in Gotland from Kalmar county. The image shows a maid (pigan) Carin Larsdotter from Bredsättra parish on Öland who received permission to travel to Gotland to seek service work (tjänst). In addition the passport states that her age is 19: she has blue eyes, dark hair, a straight nose, an ordinary mouth and chin and is short in stature.